Thousands Look to Get Rich from Weed in Washington

The marijuana green rush is reportedly creating a rabid smoke screen of commerce across Washington State, where people from all walks of life and various parts of the country have crossed over into pot-friendly territory in hopes doing one thing -- getting rich by selling weed.

While Colorado is set to allow medical marijuana dispensaries to start selling pot for recreational use in January, the laws in Washington are a little more liberal: basically permitting anyone without a felony that wants to battle it out in the trenches of the state’s marijuana industry to do so.

Earlier this week, Washington received hundreds of applications for state licenses from farmers, chefs, real estate agents, growers, security guards and many others, all looking to stake their claim in the impending boom of a new, greener marketplace.

One applicant, a former Microsoft employee who left his job as a software engineer to become a pig farmer, recently decided to open a 25,000-square-foot grow operation. Bruce King says he does not smoke weed, but “You don’t have to like Brussels sprouts to grow them,” or capitalize on them either.

Marla Molly Poiset says she traded in her career as an interior designer and went to culinary school in hopes of “Blending my newfound patisserie skills with medical cannabis.” Her goal is to create French chocolates and pastries for patients that have trouble swallowing pills.

Another woman says she was “the poster child for anti-cannabis,” until she discovered the healing properties pot had on her daughter’s digestive condition. Now, Angel Swanson and her husband own a medical marijuana dispensary in Tacoma, with plans to sell recreational weed next year.

Washington State is set to begin recreation marijuana sales in the late spring of 2014.

Mike Adams writes for Playboy’s The Smoking Jacket, Townsquare Media and Hustler magazine. Find him on Facebook: facebook.com/mikeadams73 or follow him on Twitter @adamssoup

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